Full Description
One of the oldest known breeds of domesticated dogs, the Saluki traveled throughout the Middle East with desert tribes, who valued the dogs for their ability to hunt gazelles. Famously painted on the walls of the Pharaohs' tombs, the Salukis' history intrigued English dog enthusiasts who were instrumental in popularizing the breed and importing it to Europe and the United States in the early 20th century.
This book tells the story of those who brought the Saluki to the West, most notably Florence Amherst, who discovered the dogs while in Egypt and went on to breed 50 litters. Other world travelers who fell under the Salukis' spell included Lady Anne Blunt, Austen Layard and Gertrude Bell. Also covered are lesser-known Saluki aficionados, mainly military officers who hunted with their hounds in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt and sought to replicate that experience at home.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Paul L. Hedren
Preface
A Note to the Reader
Prologue
1: Judge Bacon's Daughter
• Tail Piece: The Havelock-Hollywood-Custer Connection
2: That Custer Boy
• Tail Piece: A Cadet and His Dog
3: Armstrong Ascendant
• Tail Piece: P.T. Barnum's Civil War Dog Show
4: My Husband's Dogs
• Tail Pieces: The Sporting Ritual of Foxhunting in America
• Slave Tracking and Prison Guard Dogs
5: The Texas Pack
• Tail Pieces: Libbie Custer and Persian Greyhounds—Two Degrees of Separation
• Dogs as Property in the 19th Century
6: Kansas—Hunting Game and Chasing Indians
• Tail Pieces: Scotch Stag Hounds and Chinese Edible Dogs—Victorian Breed Terminology
• Army Dogs: Birth, Sutures and Death
7: Kansas and Indian Territory: Bloody Snow
• Tail Piece: Did Armstrong Kill His Own Dogs at Washita?
8: The Tourist Hunters
• Tail Piece: Plagiarizing Lord Byron
• Barnum and the Grand Hoboken Buffalo Hunt
9: Blue Grass, Pvt. Burkman, and the Grand Duke Alexis
• Tail Piece: Russian Wolfhounds Emigrate to America
10: Paw Prints on the Yellowstone
• Tail Piece: Sir St. George Gore's Greyhounds Populate the West
• Sighthounds vs. Antelope
11: Fort Lincoln and the Black Hills
• Tail Piece: California Joe and His Custer Hound
• Tailless Dogs
12: The Last Dog Deals and the March to Little Bighorn
• Tail Piece: Custer's First Stand
13: Dog Rumors and the Last Stand Hoax
• Tail Piece: Rusty's Improbable History
14: The Widow Custer's Burden
Epilogue: Custer's Last Hound
Appendix: General Custer's Dogs in Art, Literature and Film
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
